o had once been discharged for cause,
would immediately be detected, and a high standard of personnel thus
obtained.

Congress recently passed a law whereby the Bureau of Immigration is
permitted to tax each immigrant four dollars; this sum to be used in
detecting foreign criminals who come to this country; also to aid in
ascertaining whether foreigners who come here commit crimes and get
into prisons. If such are found they are to be deported. By the
finger-print system the prints of each foreigner could be taken at all
ports of entry. These could be kept on file in Washington, and from
time to time compared with those sent to the Bureau of Criminal
Registry in the Department of Justice building. Any foreigner located
in a prison could be ascertained, and upon the termination of his
sentence taken to some port and placed on board ship.

It has been demonstrated by experts that the ridges of finger tips do
not change from birth until death and decomposition. Scars made on the
finger tips remain throughout life, and are valuable for identification
purposes. Criminals try to evade identification by the system by
burning the tips of their digits with acid; but these are classified
under the head of disfigured fingers, and a lawbreaker cannot escape
detection. Even the removal of two, three, or four fingers or an entire
hand does not prevent a criminal being traced if his prints were taken
before he lost the five digits. In the case of one hand being
amputated, the missing fingers are classified as they appear on the
other hand. If a search fails to locate the person, then the missing
fingers are classified first as whorls and then as loops, search being
made after each classification. In this manner the search may be a
little more tedious than it would be if all the fingers were there, but
in time he would be identified.

The Department of Justice thinks so well of the system that it has
recently established in Washington a Bureau of Criminal Registry. There
the finger-print sheets, and for the time being Bertillon cards, of
all criminals who have been convicted of violating federal laws are to
be kept. The prints and Bertillon measurements of new arrivals at
government prisons and jails will also be sent there for classification,
none of this work being done at prisons as heretofore. The men held
in federal jails, charged with crimes, are also to have their
finger-prints taken, and these sent to the central bureau. If